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The pre-tribulation rapture doctrine is a tenet of dispensationalism which holds that living believers will be taken to heaven to avoid a future Great Tribulation. It is noteworthy that no verse in the Bible specifically says that Christ will come to take the church off planet earth to heaven before a 7-year tribulation. Neither is there found in Scripture a distinction between Israel and the church, or a parenthesis that stops the prophecy clock prior to the 70th week of Daniel 9:24-27. These are the distinctives that define dispensationalism and the pre-trib rapture. The rapture doctrine was introduced to the...

In my ongoing studies in the early-church fathers, I have discovered a number of pretribulation-rapture passages in Ephraim the Syrian that I haven’t seen referenced in books, magazines, or online. I offer ten of the clearest here. Perhaps “undiscovered” is an overstatement, but unless my radar needs to be significantly upgraded, these passages do seem to have largely escaped notice in prophecy-loving circles. I found them in his 150-plus Greek works which not only aren’t included in the standard English-translation church-father collections, but the vast majority of them have never been translated into English, at least not with any semblance...

On July 7, 2021, Nathan Jones, Internet Evangelist for Lamb & Lion Ministries, and Todd Hampson, Bible prophecy teacher of the Prophecy Pros podcast, e-mailed a list of “10 Reasons Why Bible Prophecy Exists.” Shows that God Speaks the Truth Proves the Bible Is God’s Word Shows God Is in Control Demonstrates God’s Love Describes God’s Plan Demonstrates God’s Might Proves God Is Worthy Promises Evil Will Be Punished Prepares Us to Get Right with Him Gives Us Hope This writer agrees with Jones and Hampson and will add that current events indicate that the God that punishes evil and...

I have been away from my computer for a few days to speak at a conference, so here is a revised and updated version of an article that I wrote several years ago. It is a list of 45 reasons why I believe the Pre-Trib Rapture is right (save it so you can give it to Mid-Trib believers, Post-Trib believers, unsure believers, etc.). 1) There are no passages in either the Old Testament or the New Testament that say the Church will go through the Tribulation Period. 2) The Tribulation Period is called the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” [The time...

FIVE years ago, rumours spread around the globe that — according to an ancient Mayan calendar — the world would come to an end in December 2012. Over the past 2000 years, there have been hundreds of confident predictions of the same kind, all of which have, to date, come to nothing. One of the most famous was in 1844, when the Millerites (followers of the American prophet William Miller) prepared confidently for Judgement Day. In 2011, a radio evangelist, Harold Camping, used the supposed date of Noah’s flood to predict that Judgement Day would be 21 May. Like Miller,...

Defending The Pre-trib Rapture After reading countless messages and articles that attack the pre-trib rapture, I've noticed a certain number of arguments that are repeatedly sent to me. Instead of trying to answer every individual e-mail I receive, I thought it would be a good idea to create a web page that addresses the most commonly mentioned points of debate. This way, I can avoid repeating myself so many times; thereby, maintain my sanity. Nowhere in the Bible, can you find the word "rapture"It amazes me that some folks write to me, questioning the validity of the rapture, simply...

The Early Church Fathers and the Foundations of Dispensationalism Larry V. Crutchfield Professor of Early Christian History & Culture Columbia Evangelical Seminary, Longview, WA Part I—Setting the Stage: The Participants and Theological Principles in the Debate The Issue Decade after decade, dispensationalists have endured the charge by their opponents that there are no historical antecedents for their doctrine prior to John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) and the Plymouth Brethren. Millard J. Erickson, for example, asserts flatly that “No trace of this theology can be found in the early history of the church.”<![if !supportFootnotes]>[1]<![endif]> And Clarence B. Bass declares that “No dispensational writer...

PRE-TRIB, A PROBLEMATIC THEORY! The prewrath position continues to gain support as serious Bible students examine it in light of Scripture. For that is the crucial test and is why the Bereans ". . . received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). The important factor is not what we may teach or believe but rather, what does Scripture say when we take it for what it says. We need to read the language of Scripture in its normal, natural, customary usage, as we are careful to take...